the wind, in color red
by abipraya
Summary: The moonlight shines over his figure, highlighting all the creases, the battle scars left from his endless adventures, the boyish grin - and she feels like seventeen again. — Juudai/Asuka, post-series.


It's a chance meeting of sorts, under the dizzy drizzle - an evening downpour nobody saw coming, where bus stops magically transform themselves into safe heavens for the lost. Asuka lets out a dejected sigh and sits in the rusty metal that is a makeshift bench and fights off the idea of braving through the rain back to her apartment.

In a week, she'll have to go back to Duel Academia, back to endless hours of droning about duel theories and whatnot, back to dealing with students ranging from the goody-two shoes to the self-proclaimed delinquents. In two days, her brother is coming for a visit, meaning in two days, she'll discover migraine.

She begins to notice the figure sitting on the other end of the metal bench – a man, age looking not too far from her own, red hoodie pulled halfway high lazily, looking content even though he's as dripping wet as she is.

There's something about the man, the tanned flesh, the defined jaws. He's grinning something warm, something inviting, something – _familiar _towards the unrelenting rain. It pokes around her memory a bit. She doesn't know where to start.

"It's getting heavier, huh," he speaks up, and somehow she hears him loud and clear, even with the rain.

"I'm sorry?" She squeaks. Her voice is an octave higher, but the rain is there to cover her rather obvious surprise. The trip down the memory lane is for later.

"The rain," the stranger replies, and she's thankful he doesn't even chuckle the slightest at her embarrassing response, "it's getting heavier."

Between the soft poundings of the drops and the concrete asphalt below, Asuka replies. "Yes. Yes, it is."

Her stomach turns, her pulse throbs, and she finds her eyes flickering back and forth between the rain and the stranger. As if looking for... _something_ that's supposedly here, something that she's supposed to know. Her mind is a jumbled mess and she doesn't even know why.

Maybe it's because it's somewhere between 7 and 9 p.m right now. She can't tell with her phone lacking in battery, but judging from the blurs of uncertain lamplight, people pacing back and forth with colored umbrellas, the drunken howls, the shudders of smokes from vehicles and cigarettes mingling with oxygen. It's probably 7 in the evening alright.

"How's life?"

"Do I know you?" She finally asks, eyeing the man. A truck passes with its neon lights, attached probably to make it flashier than it already is, obnoxiously too bright, the blue and yellow bathe the stranger in red with a glow so familiar, she's starting to put the pieces together into a semblance of truth. The red suits the stranger perfectly, she thinks. And maybe a dash of black. It reminds her of someone –

"I think so?" Stranger says, lips tugged into a boyish smile she _knows too damn well_. His voice is sounding more and more nostalgia-inducing. She's beginning to recall when she's heard it before. If ever, that is.

When the stranger stands up abruptly, it takes every fiber of her being to stop her from stopping him. She's starting to know why.

"I see." She finally, _finally _sees. "You know – I, I used to like you."

He hums in response, his back to her. She kind of wonders what kind of face he's making right now, but it takes her five seconds before imagination and familiarity and – _friendship _paints the picture for her.

"We should have a duel sometime. I'm a lot better than I used to be. I'm a teacher now, after all,"

"—I know."

Asuka blinks. "Huh?"

She has a question trying to force itself out of her throat, but when he turns around, the grin, teeth exposed, a beautiful picture of a man in a bus stop, a checkpoint of his endless journey. She has a dozen of other epithets to bestow, but she's saving that for another chance meeting. She sighs, and realizes that she's been holding her breath all along.

His smile is ridiculously infectious, she has to admit. "Anyway, it's nice to see you again, Juudai."

The world moves on; the honking of passing cars, the still uncertain lamplight, the pounding of the rain dimming into a soft arabesque against the road, the continous drone of complains, gossips, everything – the people of the 8 p.m. Time leaves the two in a time capsule that is the rusty, desolate bus stop, and until the rain stops, they'll simply enjoy the moment. Asuka closes her eyes, and she's suddenly seventeen once more.

* * *

**Notes**: [1] it's been years since I watched the series, and how I miss Juudai and co. ;-; (*cough* and I think the characters were a bit off haha)

[2] So, uh. Does this thing count as a Juudai/Asuka romance fic? Not really. And if it looks so, I didn't intend to write them that way... I guess. While I _do _like Juudai/Asuka, c'mon, Juudai/Yubel is pretty much canon, and Juudai showing a romantic interest in anyone else but Yubel is, frankly, already OOC on his part. Just my 2 cents, though.

[3] Written in 15 minutes. Concrits are greatly appreciated!


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